Zhu Biao (10 October 1355 – 17 May 1392) was the eldest son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, his mother Empress Xiaocigao of the Ma clan, and the father of Emperor Huizong of Ming. Zhu Biao was born in September of the first year of Longfeng (1355, the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty) in the family of the Taiping merchant Chen Di. When Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed King of Wu, he made him a son of the world and studied the scriptures with Song Lian. Since he was carefully taught since childhood, Ming Taizu had high hopes for him and cultivated him in many ways. In the first year of Hongwu's reign (1368), he was made crown prince and officially established him as his heir.
Zhu Biao was familiar with the Confucian classics from an early age, had a kind and generous personality, and was very friendly to his younger brothers, such as Zhu Zhu of Qin, Zhu Tang the King of Jin, Zhu Di the King of Yan, and Zhu Xu of Zhou, who had many mistakes, and Zhu Biao reconciled and interceded, sparing them from punishment and the highest prestige among the kings. However, in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), after Zhu Biao returned from an inspection of Shaanxi, he died of wind and cold, and in August he was buried on the east side of the Xiaoling Tomb, that is, the Ming Dongling Tomb, known as "Prince Yiwen".
Zhu Biao's illness and death made Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sad. It is precisely because of his deep affection for Zhu Biao that Zhu Yuanzhang did not consider letting Zhu Di and other sons inherit the throne, but turned his attention to Zhu Biao's sons. So, the question is, after Zhu Biao's death, why did Zhu Yuanzhang pass the throne to Zhu Yunxi instead of Zhu Yunxi?
One
First of all, Zhu Biao had five sons, as follows:
Eldest son: Zhu Xiongying (朱雄英), born of the Chang clan (常氏生), posthumously honored as King Yu (虞王), courtesy name "Huai".
Second son: Zhu Yunjiao (朱允炆), born of the Lü clan (Lü Shisheng), also known as Emperor Jianwen.
Third son: Zhu Yunxi (朱允熥), changsheng of the Chang clan, was given the title of King of Wu (吴王), with the courtesy name "Mourning" or "Mourning".
Fourth son: Zhu Yunxi (朱允熞), lü shisheng (Lü Shisheng), was created the Prince of Heng (衡王), with the courtesy name "愍" (愍) or "Mourning".
Fifth son: Zhu Yunxi (朱允熙), lü Shisheng (劉氏生), courtesy name Xu (徐王), courtesy name "Jian" or "愍" or "Lai".
Among Zhu Biao's five sons, Zhu Xiongying was the eldest son, and if Zhu Biao successfully ascended the throne, Zhu Xiongying should be the future prince and emperor of the Ming Dynasty. However, Zhu Xiongying only lived for eight years, that is, he died in 1382 AD. After Zhu Xiongying's early death, although Zhu Yunxi's age was younger than Zhu Yunjiao, his mother Chang shi was Zhu Biao's crown princess, and Zhu Yunjiao's mother Lü Shi was only Zhu Biao's second concubine. In other words, Zhu Yunxi is a concubine, and Zhu Yunxi is a concubine.
Under the system of primogeniture, the status of concubines is obviously higher than that of concubines, which is the so-called "li concubine is not virtuous by longevity, and lizi is expensive but not long". Similar to the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu, who was born from a concubine, despised Yuan Shao, who was born from a concubine.
However, although Zhu Yunxi was a concubine, Zhu Yuanzhang still chose Zhu Yunxi. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the reasons are mainly divided into the following points.
Two
On the one hand, this is because Zhu Yunjiao's personality and performance are more loved by Zhu Yuanzhang. According to the records of historical materials such as the "History of Ming", Zhu Yunjiao was intelligent and studious from an early age, extremely filial piety, and when he was fourteen years old, when the crown prince Zhu Biao was ill, Zhu Yunjiao waited carefully and did not leave a step day and night. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), Zhu Biao fell ill and died, and Zhu Yunjiao was emaciated due to excessive grief when he was keeping filial piety, and Zhu Yuanzhang comforted him: "And sincerity and pure filial piety, do not care about me." In September of the same year, Zhu Yunjiao was made the emperor's grandson. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Zhu Yunjiao's personality is obviously quite similar to Zhu Biao, which prompts Zhu Yuanzhang to love Wu and Wu, and to love Zhu Yunjiao's grandson even more.
At the same time, the crown prince Zhu Biao had a kind personality, and most of the sentences on prison were mainly reduced provinces, and Zhu Yunjiao also continued Zhu Biao's lenient strategy. In the 29th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunjiao requested Ming Taizu to revise the Daming Law, and he referred to the Book of Rites and the Criminal Law of the Dynasties to revise the overly strict provisions of the Daming Law, which won the hearts of the people. Correspondingly, Zhu Yunxi and other other sons of Zhu Biao did not have such a performance. From this point of view, Zhu Yunjiao should be Zhu Biao's most virtuous son, that is, when Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned as the emperor's grandson, he paid more attention to character and ability than to concubines and elders.
Three
On the other hand, when Zhu Biao died, the imperial court still had blue jade and other military generals with outstanding military achievements, and if Zhu Biao did not die of illness, he could naturally suppress these founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty. However, the young Zhu Yunjiao and Zhu Yunxi obviously did not have such ability and prestige. Therefore, after Zhu Biao's death, Lan Yu and other military generals who held military power had become thorns in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes and nails in his flesh, intending to get rid of them quickly.
Further, Zhu Yunxi's birth mother, Chang Shi, was the daughter of Chang Yuchun, the founding general of the Ming Dynasty, and Chang Yuchun's wife, Lan Shi, was Lan Yu's sister. If Zhu Yunxi ascended the throne, Blue Jade and chang Yuchun's descendants would undoubtedly gain a higher status, and even become a foreign family similar to the history of the Han Dynasty. And this, of course, is the result that Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to see, that is, the interference of foreign relatives and eunuchs in the government of the dynasty, which was an important reason for the direction of the ancient dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not appoint Zhu Yunxi, but also killed Lan Yu and other martial generals.
According to the "History of Ming" and other historical records, in 1392, after Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang first killed Lan Yu's relatives, Ye Sheng, the Marquis of Jingning. Soon after, Zhu Yunjiao was made the emperor's grandson. In 1393, the Blue Jade Case broke out, not only Blue Jade was killed, but Fu Youde, Wang Bi and others were also implicated, and the number of people who were eventually killed reached 15,000. What is more interesting is that after the Blue Jade case, Zhu Yuanzhang also said that he would no longer pursue blue jade and Hu Weiyong's henchmen, probably because no one could threaten the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunjiao.
Four
Finally, in May of the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Yunjiao became emperor and changed his name to Yuan Jianwen the following year. After Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, he carried out the strategy of cutting down the domain, deposing the King of Zhou, the Daiwang, the King of Qi, and the King of Min, and the King of Xiang was forced to commit suicide; in July of the first year of Jianwen (1399), Zhu Di, the King of Yan, took the opportunity to rebel, known in history as the "Battle of Jingnan"; in June of the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di invaded Nanjing, and Zhu Yunjiao's whereabouts after the Battle of Jingnan were unknown.
As for Zhu Yunxi, who was not eligible for the emperor's throne, in the first year of Jianwen (1399), he was crowned king of Wu by Zhu Yunxi. In the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), after the Battle of Jingnan, Zhu Yunxi was demoted to the title of King of Guangze Commandery and lived in Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian. On September 10 of the same year, Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi, the king of Huai'en, were summoned to the capital. On November 13, Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi, the king of Huai'en, were deposed by Zhu Di on the charge of not being able to assist his brother, and imprisoned in Fengyang, Anhui Province, at the age of thirty-nine in the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417). Therefore, Zhu Di was proclaimed empress, and Zhu Yunxi, because he was Zhu Biao's concubine, did not achieve a good ending.